Twisting Paths

Part 7

It had been three weeks since Arnold and his parents were reunited in central America, and the entire time had been nothing but joy for the reunited family. Everyone at the boarding house had been abuzz when they heard that Miles and Stella were on their way back, and even happier when they saw them get out of the cab with Arnold. Grandma and Grandpa were so happy that Grandma acted normal, and Grandpa hugged Mr. Kakoshka…

"I can't believe you're back." Grandpa said, tearing up slightly as he hugged his son and daughter-in-law.

"Arnold, why don't you go up to your room and get some rest." Stella suggested, nudging her son towards the stairs, "The adults are going to need some time to talk…We'll be up later ok?"

"Sure mom." He said, smiling and making his way upstairs to the sounds of his family excitedly talking.

It took him a little longer to get up the stairs than he was used to because of the cast on his left leg, but he finally got up to his room and flopped onto his bed, drifting off to sleep quickly to dreams of his family and him on a picnic in the park… a dream that would have made him cry with loss until recently… now it was just a happy thought for the future. He was shaken awake what felt like a few minute later, but when he looked at the clock, he saw that it had been about three hours.

"There are some friends of yours here to see you Arnold." Miles said, smiling and gesturing at the door to Arnold's room, slightly cracked and with no less than six heads poking around the corner.

"Hey guys."Arnold said, waving for them to come in, surprised that so many of his classmates were waiting to see him.

But there were more waiting than Arnold had guessed, as he watched almost his entire class walk in, all happy to see him and see how he was doing. After fielding the usual questions of what the hospital was like, when he had gotten back, had he gotten in trouble… Gerald asked what his parents were like.

"Uhhh… I don't know where to start actually…" Arnold said, blushing, "I mean, Grandpa's been telling me stories about them for so long, and now I get to see them for real… it's just… hard to explain."

"I hope for your sake Arnold," Rhonda chimed in, trying to look aloof as always, "That you end up looking half as good as your dad does."

"He is quite charming and handsome." Phoebe agreed, the rest of the girls in the class nodding.

"And they're both really smart!" Stinky added, standing well over everyone else, "They're both doctors right? You weren't fooling about that?"

"They're both doctors Stinky." Arnold assured them, "But they're really relaxed about everything… not like you'd expect. Where's Helga by the way?" he asked, noting the lack of sarcastic remarks.

"She said that she might stop by later if she wasn't busy." Phoebe said, looking somewhat embarrassed by her friends rude gesture.

"Oh… well that's cool then. So what have I missed at school?"

While everyone bombarded him with details about what had been happening without Arnold, he let his mind wander to several weeks ago in the jungle. After they fell down into the pit, he had a dream that he had kissed Helga… and though it shouldn't have bugged him that much… it felt so real. But he wouldn't really kiss her would he?

Finally, his Mom poked her head in and asked everyone to leave for the day so that he could get some rest, assuring them that he would see them in school the next day.

Stella laughed as she watched his classmates file out, some looking disappointed, others happy to see their friend after such a long absence. "You must be very popular." She chuckled, sitting on the edge of her son's bed.

"Yeah… I guess I am… I'm surprised they're in such good shape though." Arnold said, looking from the door to his mom.

"Oh? And why wouldn't they be? They're not the ones who ran into a stake pit." She commented, patting his cast, which had hers and his father names on them in big bold letters.

"I'm kind of the one at school who helps the others with their problems… sometimes it gets me in trouble, but the rest of the time, it's funny how much better they feel afterwards." He told her, trying not to sound cocky, but trying to share his life with them nonetheless.

"Hmmm. Sounds to me like you're already well on your way to being a great young man." Stella mused, a misty look coming over her eyes as she smiled at her little boy. "Maybe someday, you'll help people like your father and me?"

"I think I'd like that…" he agreed, trying to find something else to talk about. He had worn out most topics of conversation in the hospital catching up on the last 9 years.

"Well… whenever you feel hungry, your grandma and I are making soup." Stella said, getting up off his bed and kissing him on the forehead, "And I'll be sure she keeps anything that's an old family recipe out of it."

Arnold laughed at the joke and leaned back against his pillow to stare at the clouds overhead, dreaming of all the good things he had.

Helga had peeled out of the classroom as soon as she was sure that everyone was well out of the way. Even though she was bursting with anticipation at seeing Arnold again, she was still a little nervous about showing anyone that she actually cared for her usual victim. She ran down the city sidewalks, taking the shortest route to his house, and waited on the fire escape outside his window. She had timed it perfectly, looking in just as everyone was leaving. She wanted to knock and hear his sweet angelic voice so bad… but what would he say if he found her on his fire escape? As she planned her next move, he got up and hobbled to the corner where his crutches were, picking them up and leaving his room.

"Dang!" she muttered, "How am I going to talk to him when he's not alone?"

She tried to think of different ways to isolate him, but nothing came to her.

"Maybe I should just go up to him and ask to have a word with him?" she mused, "I mean… what's the worst that could happen? He practically told me he loved me the last time I saw him."

With that happy thought to fuel her actions, she climbed down the fire escape and walked up to his front door, which was answered by none other than his dad.

"Hey!" he greeted, "You're Arnold's friend right? The little girl that fell into the trap with him. Come on in!"

"Uhhh, thanks…" she replied, not really used to people being nice to her, or adults remembering her… too many years of living with Bob saw to that, "Is Arnold awake right now?" she asked,a s if she didn't already know.

"Yeah, he just came down for dinner, would you like to join us?" Miles offered, motioning towards the dining room.

"Sure…" she accepted, definitely outside her comfort zone, but anxious to see her love all the same.

"Everyone!" Miles said, getting the boarders attention, and his families, "We have a guest, this is Helga, Arnold's friend from school."

"Nice to meet you again Helga." Stella said, showing her to a seat, which happened to be right across form Arnold. "These are Arnolds grandparents, Phil and Gertie"

"And these are some of the boarders," Miles chimed in, pointing them out in turn, "That's Mr. and Mrs. Kakoshka, Ernie, and lastly but not least, Mr. Hyun."

"Hi everyone." Helga said shyly, blushing at being treated so warmly.

"Here, have some soup." Gertie offered, "You look like you could use a good home cooked meal."

"Thanks…" she replied, stunned by the nice way everyone was acting, "Uhhh, I actually came over to see how Arnold was doing, and how everything was since San Lorenzo…"

"Everything's great Helga." Arnold replied, grinning from across the table, "I was a little surprised when you didn't come over with everyone else, but I'm glad to see you."

"Yeah, we've been busy these last few weeks catching up… Arnold told us you two were in the school play?" Stella said, looking at Helga like she could see her soul, but still smiling warmly.

"Yeah… we were… He was Romeo, and I was Juliet." She explained, blushing at the memory of the kiss she stole from Arnold onstage.

"That must have been weird for you then?" Miles guessed, leaning in slightly, "I don't think a lot of fourth graders would have fun with Shakespeare."

"Actually… I liked it a lot." She admitted, much to Miles and Stella's surprise, "I like poetry, and Shakespeare was really fun to act…" plus, I got to kiss your son

"There was one scene though," Arnold said, "The kiss at the end, she must have lost her count, because she held it for a lot longer than it was supposed to be for." Arnold piped in, laughing.

"Well… I was nervous, and I was trying to remember what I said after that." Helga lied, blushing.

Miles and Stella shared a look Helga couldn't quite figure out before nodding at her, saying how that was completely understandable and they would have done the same thing. The rest of the meal passed with Helga trying not to open her mouth, lest she say something stupid. Finally, when everyone was done and the dishes were out of the way courtesy of Ernie and Mr. Hyun, Helga asked if she could talk to Arnold alone about some of the things that had happened on the trip. Arnold said that they could talk up in his room and asked if it was alright with his parents, they both smiled and said it was okay.

When they were alone in his room, Helga tried to put on her tough act as best she could.

"Well your family seems happy." She said, crossing her arms and standing opposite Arnold, who sat on his bed, "And your parents are a lot cooler than I expected…"

"Yeah." He agreed, "They are pretty cool."

"So…" Helga said, looking at Arnold, blushing.

"So…" he replied, a calm look on his face.

"About what happened in the San Lorenzo…"

"I wanted to say something real quick about that." Arnold began, stopping her.

"What is it?" she asked, nervously.

"I wanted to apologize for what I might have said in the stake pit." Arnold said nervously, scratching the back of his head, "I can't remember much after falling in… but I know you were there for me, and I think I had some pretty weird things going through my head that may have spilled out accidentally…"

Helga did NOT like where this was going, but she stood there trying to keep an aloof attitude, "Like what kind of stuff?" she asked.

"Well… I think I told you that I like-like you… and I don't think that's true…" he said frankly.

"Oh?" was all she said as she felt her heart shatter on the inside. It was all she could do not to cry right then and there.

"Yeah… I mean, you can be the nicest person in the world… but well… I doubt you like me like that, and I didn't want to make anything awkward by not apologizing for the stupid thoughts that came out of my mouth. But I owe you big time for what you did to take care of me back then… if there's anything I can do to make it up, just let me know."

"Sure football head… I'll let you know…" she replied, desperately trying not to burst into tears and pound her fists against the walls as she heard the one person she actually loved tell her that everything he had said, all his confessions, were stupid ideas… "I have to get going now." She lied, opening the door.

"Sure thing Helga, just take care okay?" Arnold said from the bed, watching her leave.

It took every ounce of will power to hold in her emotions as she ran out of the boarding house, finally collapsing in a fit of hot, bitter tears in the alley next to the boarding house. A heavy rain was falling but she didn't care. She sobbed into her arms as she doubled over on the ground and wailed at the pain of having her feelings torn up so callously. The only thing that made it worse, was that she felt no anger towards Arnold… because she had done nothing but torment him for years…

How was that? Were you expecting that to happen? Don't lie now… please let me know what you thought, and what you hope will happen next. I encourage you to leave a review, or PM me if you have any questions. I can't stress enough how much I love to hear what readers have to say, so please share…

Til next time,

musicalreader